Other Happenings This Month

This month has also been filled with performances, museums, games, and milestones.

We have listened to Josh perform with his school band and also an honor band through Weber State.

Emmie performed in her Christmas concert. (Sorry.  We were so far back that the picture we took was terrible.  So use your imagination on what another choir performance looked like!)

And Olivia performed with a newly formed elementary school concert.  We are really missing the Iowa music programs in school.  There each grade has one or two concerts a year, to really get comfortable with performing.  Here, singing is a new concept until jr. high.  I am thankful the kids have had exposure before that.

I also joined Olivia for a field trip up to the Museum of Natural History at the U.  As much as I don't like the U, I have to admit that it was a pretty cool museum.  And the kids had a great time.

Jack, Kris, and I were able to catch a BYU basketball game when they traveled to Weber State--and won.

And Kris and I hit a milestone this year.  On Dec. 21, 2012 (yes, the day the world was supposed to end), we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.  Hard to believe I have been with him longer in my life than I have been without him.  We got married when I was 19 so hitting the 20 is a big step.  He can't say the same until we hit our 24th (+ 1 month) anniversary.  I love him so much and can't wait to spend eternity with him.

Temple Square

I have really been missing my time with the Des Moines Choral Society since moving to Utah.  Thankfully, my sister-in-law Michelle let me be part of a group she has that performs at Christmas time each year.  We had the great opportunity of singing on Temple Square this week--at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the Family History Library--with a 40 minute program.  It was really a special holiday treat that I hope to repeat.

We also took the family to Temple Square to see the lights--along with HALF the state of Utah.  It was beautiful, but we really felt like sardines as it was so crowded.  Note to us--don't go on a Saturday night when the weather is mild.  Everyone else has the same idea.

Back to Basics

This year, with most of our belongings still taking out residence in boxes in our garage, we have had the opportunity to get back to basics with Christmas.  Gone is our tree and all its trimmings.  Gone are our other decorations.  Gone is our box of favorite Christmas stories (which we truly do miss).  Gone is our advent calendar.

In their place, we found a real tree and have been adding one ornament a day, thanks to a very timely and valuable Christmas present from our aunt and uncle--25 days of Christ (a great reminder each day of some part of the Savior's life, with scripture references, video references from the Bible Videos found on LDS.org, and ornaments included).  We added some stockings and one other decoration we found.  That's it.  Simple is best.  It has really felt good.

Of course, we have kept our tradition (get the back story here) of homemade gift giving alive for Christmas Eve.  Gifts are steadily making their way under the tree in preparation for our gift exchange.  We are all excited for what we have created to give.